No 3 of 2000 - Civil Division Conciliation Conferences

Recently a number of Conciliation Conferences have been postponed or aborted due to the failure of solicitors (and their clients) to attend.

Attendance in person at Conciliation Conferences is preferred because experience has shown that this method is more successful in achieving settlement of actions.

The Court does permit attendance at Conciliation Conferences by telephone in certain circumstances where personal attendance will cause unreasonable expense or hardship to the relevant party.

However, if attendance by telephone is anticipated, the relevant party's solicitor should submit a written request (containing reasons) to the Court registry at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled commencement of the Conciliation Conference.

This procedure will assist in the efficient allocation of Court resources. Adjournment of any Conciliation Conference necessitated by a solicitor/party's failure to comply with the above-mentioned procedure may result in a wasted costs order against the defaulting party, together with a Conference cancellation fee representing the conciliator's charges incurred by the Court.

Jim Connolly
Administrator of Courts

29 February 2000